A moment and a lifetime

February 20, 2018

Dear Reed – I woke up this morning not sure how I would tackle the day, the one I just wish was erased from the calendar forever. There were a few things that conspired to make for a rough start. When I flipped on the morning news, an interview was being conducted with an Olympic athlete who had won while wearing the training outfit of his younger brother who recently passed away. Really, Universe? That has to be the exact story on television today?

There were other things that seemed to bog down the start of the day, starting with my head (a massive sinus infection) and lingering in my heart (aching from how time can feel like both a moment and lifetime in 10 years). We do not grieve alone as many have sent love tokens of comfort, but honestly, the gray, overcast skies seem as if all creation, if not most of Lyon County, grieves with us.

Yet, we have learned even in the saddest moments that God’s love shines the brightest in the dark. As sad as we are (not just today) to not have you here, this one day does not define your story. We know you weren’t perfect, but to all of us you were perfectly imperfect and ours to love. While you were definitely a disorganization genius, you were also one of the kindest and most loving people we have ever met. The stories of your kindness still come to us and we are blown away each and every time.

It was this knowledge that led to our week of living and loving like Reed. Last week on her drive back to campus, Erin did a lot of thinking about you and about our upcoming week. Her words became our marching orders.

Hey guys! When I was driving I was thinking of all the many traits Reed had and the one that kept coming to my mind was how much of a servant’s heart he had. He would’ve done anything for anybody – even those who treated him like crap, and think about how he changed the hearts of some of those people. I think this week we should all try to do at least one thing to serve others. I think that is something Reed would be proud of.

So there it was – our mission. Instead of putting up insulating walls to protect our hearts which is usually what happens as this day approaches, we put our hearts out there to love like crazy just like you would do.

When we gathered this morning, we shared with each other the ways that we had loved others. Dad and I decided to live out our day of loving others on the “love day” that can be painful for some. It started as a way to love “Auntie” and morphed into a day to love all those in our church whose sweethearts now live with Jesus. We spent time over the weekend making candies and spent the lunch hour baking little love treats. Then we spent our Valentine’s Day evening, visiting, sadly sometimes too briefly, with our friends whom we love dearly. Sawyer spent an evening loving on his favorite Miracle Children by attending a basketball game with two little boys and hanging out with them before and after. Cloie tackled a couple different projects: making treats for youth group (following in your footsteps), doing childcare at church, and my personal favorite helping a student who struggles in school feel like a champion for a day. And then there was Sister.

She really took to heart how you would tell us to be nice to the kids who were mean to you because they didn’t know Jesus like you did. She chose to volunteer to help love on someone who hasn’t always been nice and kind to her. Even in her challenge, she knew that God was leading her to turn the other cheek just like you did and she blew us away with her heart to follow through.

Although grief will always be a part of our story – your story, what all of us really want is for you to be remembered for how you lived and that in the midst of our sadness, may we be known for choosing to live basking in the glow of the love that you get to experience each and every day.

And until we can see Jesus’ face radiating that love and hug you again, we will keep on remembering the way you loved others, especially us.